Nail down your tools

Tool theft is rife around the country and, even if you haven’t been personally affected, you’ll likely know someone who has. We’re urging builders to take extra precautions on site and lock all tools securely

Without tools, it would be impossible to do your job, so it makes great sense to insure them. Police are urging builders, project managers and contractors to be vigilant and take steps to reduce the opportunity for offenders to target construction sites.

How bad is it?

Below is a brief summary of incidents from across the country:

Auckland

Police arrested a prolific offender after carrying out a search; they seized a large amount of suspicious property, including several thousand dollars’ worth of trade and electrical tools.

Coromandel

In Whitianga, $25,000 worth of tools and plumbing gear was stolen off site. A man was arrested and found with two drop saws, including one with a diamond cutting blade.

Waikato

Fourteen toilets were stolen from a site in Hamilton East, along with thousands of dollars worth of tools from developments in Horotiu and Te Rapa. Thieves also stole a Nissan Navara, a trailer and $10,000 worth of tools from Hamilton developments.

Hawke’s Bay

More than $100,000 worth of stolen building materials, tools and equipment was recovered in Hastings in August last year. Police said the haul included circular saws, nail guns, timber, a set of windows, bags of plaster, scaffolding, electrical wires, dive tanks – and an entire kitchen!

Wellington

Police are warning contractors and tradesmen to secure valuable tools and equipment, as construction sites and work vehicles have become increasingly popular targets for thieves.

Christchurch

In February, a 24-year-old painter told police he carried out the theft of goods worth thousands of dollars from parked cars in Halswell driveways and that he targeted power tools by breaking into tradesmen’s vehicles.

Otago

A bricklayer in Cromwell lost $6,500 worth of tools last year when the house he was working on was broken into. In April, a trailer, tools and a generator were taken in separate incidents in Dunedin.

How can I prevent it?

Site security is essential. Fencing acts as a deterrent, but good locks are important too. Police advise that valuable tools and equipment shouldn’t be left in unattended vehicles that aren’t kept in secure premises overnight and during the weekend.

This same principle extends to construction sites, where owners and contractors are encouraged to assess the risks of leaving valuable equipment and tools at vulnerable sites. At a minimum, make sure keys are removed and vehicles locked.

Where possible, vehicles that contain tools should be alarmed and parked in garages or away from the road. If you have a container on site where you store tools, this should be fitted with a heavyduty lockbox-style steel cover to prevent the padlock being cut. Portable alarms are also recommended for onsite storage containers.

Police recommend people record the serial numbers of their tools or mark them with identifying information, such as an LBP number, to aid the recovery and prosecution process.

Keep your asset register up to date

To make a claim under a tools and equipment policy (also known as a mobile assets policy), you need to prove your loss. Make sure you have an up-to-date tools/asset register that includes:

• Item description, including model number.
• Serial number.
• Date of purchase.
• Purchase price.

It is also a good idea to keep invoices and photos of your equipment.

Only you’re covered

Under the above policies, only tools owned by the insured entity are covered. It does not cover tools owned by subcontractors on a site, and they should insure their own.

Employees may have cover under their own contents insurance (if it includes an extension for tools used for paid work/business/commercial use, rather than just for private/home use, and the amount of cover is sufficient) or, in some cases, under the terms of employment contracts or contract works policies (with restrictions).

If you employ staff and contractors, make sure they understand this. If you are an employee, check your contract and/or contents policy to find out.

Theft of or damage to trailers

These should be insured as commercial vehicles; they can’t be insured under a tools policy.

Indemnity/market value vs replacement value cover

Indemnity or market value polices will only pay what the tool is worth when the claim is made; you have to make up the difference to buy a new one.

Replacement value cover will replace any item (that can’t be repaired) for new, regardless of its age or condition. The sum insured must be the replacement value of your tools. Beware, some policies that claim to be for replacement value will revert to market value on items more than a few years old, so check the fine print.

Theft in the open air vs forced entry (burglary)

Tools and mobile assets policies make a distinction between theft and burglary. Theft is generally considered to be when an item is stolen “in the open air” – that is without any sign of forced entry.

It would be considered theft if tools were stolen from an unlocked van, but burglary if locked doors were forced to gain entry. The same applies to tools stolen from site or other types of storage. Some policies may include burglary, but not theft in the open air.

Excesses

Even if your policy does include theft in the open air, the excess can differ. It’s common to see a $1,000 excess for burglary, but $2,500 for theft. You can find policies with options for lower burglary excesses and specialist insurers such as Builtin also offer a $1,000 excess for theft.

Having your tools stolen can be a massive inconvenience, causing delays and costing money. Taking preventative measures, keeping good records and having the right insurance cover will ensure that if something does happen, you can be back to work quickly and not out of pocket.

You can request a quote at www.builtininsurance.co.nz/tools.

Builtin are New Zealand’s trade insurance experts. For more information visit www.builtininsurance.co.nz or contact Ben Rickard at ben@builtin.co.nz or 0800 BUILTIN.